SPRING NEWS

My name is

Wasim and I am

from Syria.

I started

volunteering with

Spring Housing

Association in

Birmingham and

I am now

employed as a

Tenancy

Sustainment

Worker.

I was a volunteer at Spring Housing

Association for 5 months before gaining

employment. My role was to carry out

administration duties within the finance team.

When new Syrian families started arriving in

Birmingham,

I helped Spring HA by interpreting for them. I

now support new Syrian refugees arriving

across the Midlands who live with Spring. I

provide support with areas such as carrying

out sign-ups, house inspections and reporting

repairs on behalf of customers.

I arrived in Birmingham in August 2015. I took

the decision to volunteer at Spring HA in

October 2015 because it gives me a good

chance to do something positive for the

community who welcomed me in this city. It

also gives me a chance to help my people as

much as I can to make their new life in England

easy and smooth.

I would like to thank the lovely people at Spring

Housing as they have given me good

opportunities to experience new challenges by

doing something completely different. They

have supported continuously to increase my

confidence.

It is also a very good way of meeting a lot of

new and diverse people as well as doing my

part to help the community. I have had a

really good experience. I'm learning

something new every day and I can feel the

difference every day.

Wasim

Our Mission:

“To create long term prosperity by

investing to prevent homelessness and

social isolation”

SPRING HOUSING ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER SPRING-SUMMER 2018

In This Issue

o Customer Survey

o Volunteering and Training

o Support and Help

o Good News

o Housing Benefit/money advice

o Health and Safety

o Universal Credit update

o Volunteering update

Welcome and thank you for choosing Spring as your home. Spring is committed to creating great customer experiences for people that have had difficulties in their life that has affected their housing, life chances and often wellbeing. We aim to do this by meeting—and exceeding—your expectations. We can only do that by maintaining a culture that values, respects and recognizes you for your ongoing contributions to Spring.

Our Company purpose is very simple and that is to help those that are in housing need. The values we share are embodied in what goes on at Spring from day to day. Our deal to you is that Spring must offer good quality accommodation and a healthy living environment. Spring business model is our platform for success and every one of you will contribute to it. I have always believed that when it comes to defining and communicating Springs vision and goals, keeping it simple is important.

Our Aims are to:

o provide high quality accommodation for people in housing need.

o prevent and reduce homelessness o assist people on a journey away

from housing need towards a future of stability, happiness and independence.

We also make personal responsibility a top priority at every level of organisation. Our reputation for integrity attracts great team members, great customers, and even greater opportunities. It is the key to our long-term success. We have an unwritten rule that central costs will remain under 10% of the company’s turnover to ensure that our resources are focused on our you, our staff and our buildings. Examples

of this are the Rent Relief Fund and our property improvements. The Rent Relief Scheme is for

customers who gain employment whilst living with us and to support them we subsidise the rent for an agreed period.

I’m consistently amazed of the inspiring stories from so many of you and it gives me a constant reminder to me of why I love this job. I’m hoping that in the upcoming newsletters you will get to read about amazing good news stories from some of you. Below is a list of some of the amazing achievements connected to our charity.

o Spring provided 479 houses to 658

people

o 278 people in that period have had a

positive move on to their own

accommodation

o 111 people have been in

employment

o 52 people accessed our rent relief

fund

o 114 people have been engaged in

education or training

o 7 tenants have been employed by

Spring, a further 6 employed

externally through volunteering

route

I hope this gives you a snapshot of what you bring to Spring and I know it’s just the tip of the iceberg. I hope you enjoy the newsletter and feedback on any of our services is always welcome.

I wish you every happiness and a long and prosperous summer.

Dominic Bradley, Managing Director.

Welcome to the Spring/Summer 2018 Edition of the

Spring Customer Newsletter

By Dominic Bradley, Managing Director

CUSTOMER SURVEY RESULTS Introduction

This is the first customer feedback survey to

be conducted by Spring Housing Association.

The aim of the survey is to measure the overall

customer experience and quality of service

delivery.

When compiling our survey, we have involved

you and key stakeholders to ensure we

formulate a comprehensive set of questions.

We have also themed our questions in line

with the Homes and Communities (HCA) Four

Consumer standards.

The four HCA consumer standards are:

o Tenant Involvement and

Empowerment

o Home

o Tenancy

o Neighbourhood and Community

The survey was sent out to all customers living

in our supported and general needs housing.

We will be using the survey results to help us

further improve your customer experience.

A total of 167 you responded to the survey (44% of Spring Housing total housing stock). The survey shows that 99.38% of you are either very satisfied or satisfied with the overall service provided by Spring. This compares to a national average of 89.2%.

96% of you are either very satisfied or satisfied with the neighbourhood where you live

85.6% of you are satisfied with Springs repairs

service

65% of you were happy with the cleanness

of your homes (communal areas)

89% of you were satisfied

with the initial tenancy sign up and assessment process

81% of you said you

would recommend Spring Housing to a

friend or relative

86% of you were satisfied with the support you

received from Spring

81% of you were satisfied

with the level of support you have

received since living with Spring and felt you were more able to live independently

82%

of you were satisfied with the viewing

process

78% of you were satisfied with the information

we provided i.e. leaflets, handouts,

newsletters etc.

76% of you found our

notice board within our supported

housing accommodation

useful

83% of you were satisfied with the way Spring tailored services to

meet your individual needs

70% of you were satisfied with Spring support directly related to

housing options and move on advice

Want to improve or learn new skills? Ever thought about volunteering or

training?

You can register with https://do-it.org/ - this is a website that organisations use to advertise

volunteering opportunities

• Create a tailored profile

• Look for volunteering opportunities

• Learn about organisations across all sectors

Or Speak to your housing support worker or pop into our offices to discuss any interests you may

have and/or how we can help you access the right volunteering/training and employment

opportunity

Spring could provide opportunities for:

*administration * interpreters * repair operatives*

VOLUNTEERING AND TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES

Why

Volunteer?

Looks great on

your CV!

Get a

reference

Work

Experience

Skills

Meet new

people

Contribute to

your

community

Build

confidence

and social

skills

British Heart Foundation is looking for volunteers. You could be serving customers, creating eye-catching

displays or getting stock ready behind the scenes at your high street shop.

At their furniture and electrical stores, they’re also on the lookout for admin experts, DIY enthusiasts and

electrical whiz kids.

https://www.bhf.org.uk/get-involved/volunteer/register-as-a-volunteer

National Careers Service

Provide information, advice and

guidance to help you make

decisions on learning, training and

work.

• Help with:

• CVs

• Skills health check reports

• Action plans

• Course searches

• Face to face appointments

http://www.prospects.co.uk/What-We-Do/Employment-Skills/National-Careers-Service

0800 100 900

18 to 25?

Princes Trust can help you

with the following:

Employability support – e.g.

work experience, training, cv

building

Confidence and team building

activities

Support starting your own

business – up to age 30

Personal Development

program

www.princestrust.org.uk/

0800 842 842

“Call me” text service

07983 385418

Training for Residents Spring will always try to provide training for residents according to need and demand to support with independent living and self-care. We recently held courses on Drug Awareness and Legal Highs delivered by Reach Out Recovering. Over 20 residents attended the training – which was great. This course was ideal for showing people the consequences of drug taking especially the new substances coming onto the market. Reach Out Recovery also supports residents on a 1-2-1 basis with their needs

Health Exchange provided valuable training on First Aid and CPR – residents were provided with a qualification for attending. This course not only helped people with valuable information about what to do in an emergency but also gave many a certificate to add to their CV. If you want to access a course and/or want to suggest a course we could put on please talk to your housing support worker.

Want to help Spring improve our services? Call Eydritt on 0121 664 1443

If you are interested in getting involved with Spring’s work - we are looking at various options of

how we can involve customers. This could be for example:

o reviewing policies and procedures to make them better

o contributing to the newsletter, for example pictures or articles or making sure our

information is easy to understand

o make suggestions for how we can improve services such as repairs

Crisis Skylight Birmingham is an outreach service that works with homeless and vulnerably

housed people. We provide a structured 12-week programme, taster sessions and one-to-one support

that will help you learn more skills, improve your confidence and support your journey towards

independence.

We offer practical and creative classes in a supportive and inspiring environment. We also offer training

leading to qualifications and jobs. The aim of our work is to support you in your journey towards

independence.

For details of classes, activities and services please view our Website to view their timetable. We deliver

our activities in different venues in Birmingham with many partner organisations.

Give us a call on 0121 348 7950 if you are interested and want to find out more.

http://www.crisis.org.uk/pages/crisis-skylight-birmingham.html

Sample of courses offered: Animation, Beauty, Functional Skills — English, ESOL and many more.

National Support Services – need extra support or help?

Provides information on a range of topics including: Provides information on drugs and

o types of mental health problems where you can get advice and o medication and alternative treatments support o advocacy.

0300 123 6600 0300 123 6600 https://www.mind.org.uk/ http://www.talktofrank.com/

SUPPORT AND HELP

GET HELP - MORE THAN FOOD

Foodbanks are running a “More Than Food” programme. This means that they are providing additional support alongside emergency food, to help people address the underlying issues behind their crisis. Some foodbanks have specifically trained volunteers who can offer you additional help in the following areas:

•

• Clothes bank – can provide a set of clothes for adults.

• Money Advice – qualified staff can help you with housing, deal with debts and provide benefit advice.

• Positive Futures – an employment programme to help people back into work.

Eat Well Spend Less is a free six-session course teaching people cookery skills and household

budgeting tips to help make tight budgets stretch further. Typically, they look at the basics of cookery,

budgeting, hygiene and nutrition.

It’s an entry-level course so you don’t need to know how to cook before you come. Each session covers two basic recipes. They also cover a range of subjects surrounding cooking and budgeting, including menu planning, money planning, ‘supermarket psychology’ and tips on picking up bargains

o Develop cookery skills and the confidence to build upon these skills in you day to day life so that you can prepare and eat healthier food.

o To give an understanding of how to plan meals, both from an economic and a nutritional point of view.

o To teach people simple financial management techniques to enable them to budget more effectively and avoid getting into debt.

For more information about any of these projects please contact the Trussell Trust.

01722 580 180

https://www.trusselltrust.org/about/

GOOD NEWS

HAGLEY LODGE - THE CYCLE OF GIVING

Thanks to the hard work of staff at Hagley Lodge we have been able to provide even more for our customers. Staff approached a range of business to get donations to support new customers moving in. Warburton’s thankfully have been supplying us with over 60 leaves of bread each week for customers of the service and if there are any left on a Friday afternoon we give them to the Birmingham Food Bank to help others. The Birmingham Food Bank helps us with food vouchers to give to residents most need. Thanks Warburton for the starting this cycle of giving! Following a successful application Hagley Lodge also receives items

for customers from FareShare collected weekly from Tesco’s to support residents.

Staff also contacted Wilkinson’s, Superdrug, Boots, Lush and LIDL. We have received soap and

facial items from LUSH which have been distributed to tenants and we received £40.00 in vouchers

from LIDL which was used to hold a Hagley Lodge BBQ for all residents.

Workshops with Crisis Crisis have been continuing to deliver a ‘Manage Your Money’ workshop and ‘Tenancy Ready’ workshop every Thursday at Hagley Lodge. Following recent discussions with Crisis, it was discussed the possibility of setting up an Employability Hub at Hagley Lodge, with residents expressing the desire to get into employment or explore different opportunities available to them. Crisis started off delivering one to one employability workshops every fortnight. However, demand has been so high for these sessions, and Spring staff have made numerous referrals, that Crisis are now carrying these sessions out on a weekly basis every Monday. These one to one workshops have been extremely successful, with tenants securing interviews for National Rail Transport,

Packaging and parcel companies and completion of SIA badges and forklift licences. Tenants engage well with these sessions, with Spring staff encouraging tenants to engage in these opportunities. In addition to these two sessions, Crisis have now also set up a Maths and English session which is taking place every Friday at Hagley Lodge. This session has seen tenants engaged to improve their basic English and Maths and provide them with the skills required to apply for relevant positions. This session has proved extremely beneficial to those with limited English, who have been unable to secure places on recent ESOL Course https://www.crisis.org.uk/

Regardless of where you live, if you are a Spring customer we can help and support you to access education, training or employment. Speak to your housing support worker.

REAL STORIES …REAL PEOPLE… REAL STORIES …REAL PEOPLE… REAL STORIES …REAL

The government has introduced some major

changes through the Welfare Reform Act,

which has already affected many people. You

will remain responsible for paying any

shortfall in the rent on time, and keeping

your account up to date.

Universal Credit is a means-tested benefit for

people of working-age who are on a low income. It

replaces six existing means-tested benefits

Income Support, Income-based Jobseeker’s

Allowance, Income-related Employment and

Support Allowance, Housing Benefit, Child Tax

Credit and Working Tax Credit.

Universal Credit is intended to be simpler than the

current system of benefits and tax credits. It is

paid monthly. Entitlement is worked out by

comparing your basic financial needs that the

government says you need to live on with your

financial resources.

As of January 2018, Universal Credit advances

will be provided within five days of request.

Previously advances were for 50% of the UC

entitlement but now you can receive 100% of your

month’s UC entitlement. These advances can then

be repaid over 12 months rather than the previous

time limit of six months.

As of February 2018, the government has

removed the seven-day waiting period for

Universal Credit, so that the claim starts from the

date of application. This means that if Universal

Credit is paid on time, claimants will wait five

weeks for their first payment instead of six

weeks.

From April 2018 those already on Housing Benefit

will continue to receive their award for the first

two weeks of their Universal Credit claim. This

will be an unrecoverable payment. The

government will also make it easier for claimants

to have the housing element of their award paid

directly to their landlord.

The government expects that Universal Credit will

be rolled out to all areas

of the country by the end of December 2018 for

new Universal Credit claimants.

Alternative Payment Arrangements (APAs) are

available for claimants who can’t manage to pay

their rent direct from their Universal Credit, this is

the alternative to having Housing Benefit paid

direct. Spring can request for this to be paid to

ourselves if a tenant has more than eight weeks

rent arrears or it has been highlighted that they

may struggle to pay their rent.

Don’t delay making your claim for Universal Credit and apply as soon as you are entitled to do so as it can take up to five weeks for your first payment to reach your account. The date you submit your claim is the date of the month your Universal Credit payment will be paid. This is called your assessment date.

Universal Credit is paid monthly in arrears, so you’ll have to wait one calendar month from the date you submitted your application before your first UC payment is made. This is called your assessment period. You then must wait up to seven days for the payment to reach your bank account. This means it can take up to five weeks before you get your first payment. For further information about Universal credit visit :

https://www.gov.uk/universal-credit

User-friendly information and guides:

https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/universal-credit-an-introduction

Are you ready for universal credit?

Don’t forget you need

• an active email address

• bank account

• access to the internet

• need to know your landlord’s details

including your rent details

• Make sure you have your re tell DWP

what your basic rent is and service our

rent details to hand to tell DWP what

•

UNIVERSAL CREDIT UPDATE Essential information that may affect you…

Have your

benefits been

sanctioned?

Please do not suffer in silence. Contact your housing support worker at our offices for assistance

Tel: 0121 663 1143 Email info@springhousing.org.uk

• your basic rent is and service c

Your Housing Benefit Claim is Your Responsibility

Please do not ignore any letters you receive from the Housing Benefit Team.

Contact your housing support worker immediately.

If you receive a letter like this one above please take action as your claim could be suspended. If

you fall to act on any requests i.e. Provide proof of income or other supporting documentation, then

your claim could be suspended or cancelled and you could end up with rent arrears and at risk of

losing your home with Spring Housing.

.

Do not fall into rent arrears as you risk

losing your home!

If you have difficulty making payments

please contact us immediately.

You can also contact

www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk

Are you currently working?

If you are claiming housing benefit but have recently

secured part or full-time employment, please ensure

you notify us immediately as this could affect housing

benefit claim.

Please speak to your housing support worker on

0121 663 1443

YOUR HOUSING BENEFIT CLAIM

Data protection - change is coming…

There is a new piece of law coming into effect at

the end of May that will have an impact on

individuals and businesses. It is called the

General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR

for short.

This is updating the old Data Protection Act from

1998. The purpose of this law is to help you

understand and control how organisations and

businesses manage the information they hold

about you and to set rules for those businesses in

how they can use your data.

Businesses have to be honest and open, telling

you what they will do with your information and who

they might share it with as part of their business

and to provide services to you, how long they will

keep your information for and what rights you have

in relation to your information.

Businesses have to make sure they keep your

information secure too, stopping it from being lost,

stolen or damaged.

The law gives you the following rights:

o The right to be informed about what data a

business holds about you and what they do

with it

o The right to ask for a copy of the data a

business holds about you (often called a

Subject Access Request) The right to make

sure your data is correct and accurate

o The right to be ‘forgotten’ - if a business no

longer needs your information or does

something with it that you don’t agree with,

you can ask for it to be deleted

o The right to restrict processing if they have

inaccurate data or are doing something you

don’t like, such as sending you lots of

marketing information via email or making

nuisance calls

o The right to ‘portability’ - meaning the ability

to move your data from one service

provider to a similar one

o The right to object to ‘automated decision

making’ or ‘profiling’, which is when

computers make decisions for the business

based upon information about you. All the

above rights have rules and exceptions,

especially if there are other laws that

require businesses to keep certain

information.

You can find out more about the law and your

rights on the Information Commissioners website

(ico.org.uk).

Spring takes great care of the information it holds

about people and we are doing all we can to make

sure we are prepared for the new law.

We will be making sure we carry on being open,

honest and transparent about using your

information. If you have any questions about this

feel free to call on 0121 663 1443

New website!

Spring formally launched its newly refreshed website with a customer’s section. The website has many additional new interactive features including

o a new ‘Home finder’ search facility o rent payment link (to be launched shortly) o report a repair o publications

The website has been developed to help you and will be updated regularly to keep you up to date If you have suggestions or feedback let us know! You can check out our new website by going to the below link

https://springhousing.org.uk/

UPDATES

To make

sure our

properties

are as safe

as possible

for

customers, your housing support worker and

other members of staff carry out weekly and

periodic testing of all health and safety

equipment installed within your home.

There are instructions of what do in case of a

fire on your noticeboards which we ask you to

read and memorize.

If you should hear an alarm please leave the

property immediately and call 999.

All our properties have Fire Safety equipment

(Smoke or Fire Alarms, and Emergency

Lighting Systems) installed within the property.

Spring ensures that these are in good working

order and safe to use.

We ask that customers do not tamper,

damage or deface any Fire Safety

equipment (Smoke or Fire Alarms, and

Emergency Lighting Systems).

Unfortunately, this is a serious health and

safety breach and customers found to be

doing so will be EVICTED.

We ask that all customers remember the

house rules and the terms and conditions of

your occupancy agreement regarding

tampering with fire safety equipment.

Any incidents reported to will be investigated

and could result directly in eviction

proceedings.

DWP

0345 608 8545

Citizens Advice Bureau

03454 04 05 06

National Debt line

0808 808 4000

Drink line (the national alcohol helpline)

0300 123 1110

Talk to Frank (drug related support)

0300 123 6600

Samaritans

116 123

ELECTRIC CARDS?

Please note that Spring needs a

minimum 24 hours’ notice to bring a

topped-up card to you as this is not an

emergency service

It is your responsibility to check the meter

on a regular basis

Please inform us at least one day in

advance that you need a new one

LOCAL FOOD BANKS

If your benefits have been sanctioned or you are struggling

with your finances and require assistance with food

provisions please contact your housing support worker.

Do you have an emergency to report (ASB, Repair) when the offices are closed?

Please contact our out of hours number on 0121 663 1443 and select options 2.

07

USEFUL INFORMATION

HEALTH & SAFETY

Worcester Office Spring Housing Association Ltd, The Tolly Centre, Rowan Avenue, Worcester, WR4 9QW

Tel: 01905 453453

Email: info@springhousing.org.uk

Staffordshire Office Spring Housing Association Ltd, The Hub, 17 Eastgate Street, Stafford, ST16 2LZ

Tel: 0300 303 8606

Email: info@springhousing.org.uk

Large print, CD and other formats are available on request

CONTACT US

Head Office

Hestia House, 22 Old Walsall Road,

Birmingham, B42 1DT

Follow us on Social Media

@SpringHousing

linkedin.com/company/spring-housing-association

Visit us on the web:

www.springhousing.org.uk

0121 663 1443